 DIR. LO LEE, 24 MINS It’s not often I have the chance to visit fresh shores in the line of reviewing, but this one marks my first trip to Switzerland for a slice of extreme horror. It’s scarcely renowned as a hotbed for the subgenre – at least to my knowledge – but there are plenty of near-neighbours in Europe that have a strong reputation for the field, so this should be interesting at least. Blutgeil is confusingly subtitled Zurich Cop Killer IV, although I’m stuffed if I can find three previous instalments. Maybe it’s some sort of gag I’m missing the point of? Anyway, we lead in with a news report of a man who’s killed 21 cops, with two escaping to fight another day. I couldn’t even tell you if that serial killer character reappears, honestly, but these are the two policemen that we follow throughout the piece. Right off the bat they break up a drug deal going on in a toilet – killing all but one of the people there, a woman who crawls away silently while the men are attempting to put up a fight. They ultimately trail her to a squat, which is where most of the action takes place, with the cops trying to avenge their fallen colleagues while the dark and bizarre cast of characters inside fight the law with everything they have… I’m always willing to give a film I’ve not really got much of an idea about a whirl (especially if it’s this short) and I know this one does have at least a small cult following. Some of these low budget/no budget movies of this era have developed an audience over the course of time – and indeed some warrant it. It looks shot on VHS, and has a habit of skipping slightly awkwardly now and then throughout its runtime. Again that’s not necessarily a negative, and there have been some fun and even disturbing movies shot on VHS. Then again, we did have the filmography of Nick Phillips… *shudders* Unfortunately this is not one of the best of its ilk. The acting is pretty hammy and overdone, it doesn’t look well-shot – that could be deliberate to add more edge to the chaos that unfolds throughout, but it didn’t quite land that effect for me. There is a certain energy, in the finale in particular, although for me the absolute last scene fell distinctly flat – I won’t say any more than that for risk of spoiling it. I always tip my hat to anyone who gets off their ass and invests them time and effort to make a film, and this is definitely one of those that feels like a bunch of mates of a similar mind that got together to do something. It’s good in its way that this one still has some sort of life, but there’s plenty – even in this sub-subgenre – that I’ve preferred. RATING: 3/10. Sadly I can’t be neutral on this Swiss offering (damn it, I almost made it through this whole review without making that stupid joke). The idea is very simple, more just a set up for excess gore with little by way of plot or characterisation to hang it around – when characters both good and bad die it’s hard to really care either way. The gore effects aren’t terrible, but you will have seen rather more polished even in other low budget fare. If you’re a gorehound through and through, or someone who considers themselves an extreme horror completist, then you might find something here – other than that I think you could give this one a pass. REVIEW BY ALEX DAVIS   the heart and soul of horror movie reviews |
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